10/15 — Jay Feely told Rex Ryan, as Monday night rapidly headed toward Tuesday morning, that he was ready for a record-book effort if needed.

"He told me, 'I can make a 63-yarder.' That's how he felt," the head coach said of his kicker at today's news conference following a practice in a cold rain at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. "That was really interesting. He came by on the sidelines and told me that. From the look in his eyes, he was dead serious."

Feely, always with a smile during the week, confirmed that he wasn't kidding around about hitting a kick that would have equaled the longest field goals in NFL history.

"I went back to 63 in warmups and felt really good. And there was a little breeze going that way," he said. "I basically just told him, 'As far back as you want to go.' "

Feely didn't get to try that but you shouldn't bet against him from any distance this season. Since the summer, he's been off on perhaps the finest start to his nine-year pro career. He's hit every one of his placements this season — all eight field goals, including tries from 40 and 43 yards vs. the Dolphins, all 11 PATs. And he and his coverage team have the second-best average start in the league, with opponents taking his kickoffs on average only to the 21.9-yard line.

"My body feels good, I'm pretty confident and I'm just trying to get better every day," he said. "As cliché as that is, that's the approach I take when I go out there every day."

Ryan also knew of Feely's philosophical approach to the game, which is that even though he's not the biggest guy on the field at 5'10" and 205 pounds, he wants to make his presence felt other than through his right foot.

"When we got here, we heard that we've got the kicker that'll go tackle somebody. He's really an interesting guy, and I think he's got a great pulse of the team. They don't look at him as a traditional kicker. They look at him almost as ... a football player," Rex said with his hearty laugh. "He's got tons of confidence in himself, and right now his kickoffs are good. He's doing a great job."

One sign of the greatness is that in his 20th game as a Jet on Monday, Feely tied Pat Leahy's 24-year-old franchise record for 22 consecutive field goals.

Feely said he's never met Leahy but is aware of his long tenure as the franchise's most successful placekicker.

"I obviously know how great he was here, that he holds all the kicking records here and he's one of the best kickers in the history of the Jets. It's an honor to be up there with him."

But typically for Feely, the numbers themselves don't captivate him.

"To be honest, that doesn't mean much to me because most of it was last year," he said of his current streak, which began with 14 in a row to close 2008. "If I make 22 in a row this year, then I'll be happy about it."

That can still happen, although the quest for No. 23 for the franchise record and beyond could be in jeopardy Sunday against Buffalo, in part because of the Bills' fine special teams and in part because of a possible cold, wet day at the Meadowlands. But the weather angle is why Feely went out into today's elements with a purpose.

"Today was nasty, rainy and cold, but it was a good day to work on the whole operation, the snap, the hold and the kick," he said, including snapper James Dearth and holder Steve Weatherford in the equation. "You're going to get days like that for sure and worse in the Meadowlands, so it was good day of work."

In a so far very good year.

Woodhead's New Role

Another element of today's practice was the "new guy" wearing No. 83 among the wide receivers.

It was Danny Woodhead.

"It kind of all happened fast," Woodhead said with a smile. "I got a call from my running backs coach [Anthony Lynn]. He told me they're going to try me out there. "I'm out there to do whatever the coaches want me to do. This is not a 'me' thing. Any way I can help us out, I'm going to help us out."

Woodhead is still on the practice squad at the moment, but Ryan said with Jerricho Cotchery (hamstring) and Brad Smith (quadriceps) not practicing again today, you never know.

"I think we're looking at him as he might give us a better option right now if our receivers our down. There's a chance Jerricho and Brad won't play. He could be a slot receiver," Ryan said. "Sometimes you stumble into it, but he did a great job being Wes Welker when we were preparing for New England. When we put him in the slot, he was tough, he really was."

Plus, Ryan said what many observers were thinking when trying to see where Woodhead would fit in a backfield with Thomas Jones, Leon Washington and third-round rookie Shonn Greene.

"We've got three really good tailbacks," the coach said, "so I think when you look at that, maybe his best shot might be to learn receiver. He might be one of those jack-of-all-trade guys who becomes really valuable that way."

Woodhead said he's ready to roll, even though he traded in his running back No. 22 for Chansi Stuckey's old number beginning today.

"It's fun. Playing's fun," said the former Chadron State running back, who was known for his then-record 7,871 career rushing yards but also had excellent career receiving numbers (119 catches, 1,388 yards, 11.7 avg., eight TDs in 44 games). "I'm honestly comfortable catching the ball. It's not something I haven't done."

As for his 5'9", 195-pound size, some thought it was too small for an NFL running back and perhaps those same folks think it's too small to be an effective pro wideout. But to those skeptics, Woodhead can only shrug.

"People are going to say that," he said. "That's been the story my whole life. I'm too small for pretty much everything."

Except carving out a pro career day by day, position by position, with the Jets.

By the way, Welker is listed at 5'9", 185.

Rex Cetera

Ryan had positive updates on the two cornerbacks, Lito Sheppard and Donald Strickland, who've missed the last three games with injuries. On Strickland (ankle), Rex said: "If he's really ready, we'll put him out there." On Sheppard (hamstring): "I definitely feel that Sheppard will definitely go this week."

Rex was equally positive on the availability DE Shaun Ellis (knee) and T Damien Woody (foot), who, like WRs Cotchery and Smith, didn't participate in today's practice. ... Ryan said Friday's practice will be held in the training center's fieldhouse, not to avoid the heavy rains in the forecast but to get the Jets on the turf two days before the Bills game.